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M  UNIV^S^  V  OF  <iUN0ls 

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COMMlif 

BY  EMI>.i  :  YA  .  .LET. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  EXPERIMENT  AT 
NAUVOO  OF  THE  ICARIAN 
SETTLEMENT. 


S*cr  i 


\ 


) 

i  > 


i 


LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


1 


C  O  M  M  UNIS  M 

liV  EMILE  VALLET 


HISTORY  OF  THE  EXPERIMENT  AT  NAUVOO 
OF  THE  ICAR  IAN  SETTLEMENT 


The  science  of  sciolog}7  occupies 

many  minds.  Governments  are  ev¬ 
ery  day  more  and  more  embarassed. 

The  social  question,  like  a  night¬ 
mare,  disturbs  the  slee£>  of  our  rul¬ 
ers.  They  see,  they  feel  something' 
growing',  the  clogging*  of  the  eco¬ 
nomical  system.  They  fear  some 
disturbances,  some  explosions. 
Strikes  are  becoming  more  frequent. 
-All  the  isms  ring  in  their  ears.  So¬ 
cialism,  collectivism,  communism, 
anarchism,  etc.  The  people  criti¬ 
cise  the  present  organization;  they 
conceive  and  propose  new  theories; 
some  of  them  are  boisterous,  show 
dispositions  to  use  violent  means. 
We  read  in  the  papers  of  armed  or¬ 
ganizations  of  communists  in  some 
cities.  As  we  have  some  people  and 
perhaps  there  are  some  among  your 
readers  who  are  disposed  to  favor 
the  communistic  system.  For  their 
benefit  and  edification  I  will  give  a 
condensed  historical  sketch  of  the 
Icarian  community,  established  at 


Nauvoo.  Show  the  demoralizing 
influence  of  communism  on  men  and 
its  inadaptability  to  human  nature. 

Etienne  Cabet  was  born  at  Dijon, 
France,  and  was  the  son  of  a  coop¬ 
er.  He  received  a  good  education, 
studied  law  and  became  notorious. 
His  great  clearness  and  force  of  argu¬ 
mentation  made  him  an  eminent  or¬ 
ator.  Pie  occupied  many  prominent 
offices;  attorney  general  in  Corsica, 
member  of  the  chamber  of  deputies 
and  other  positions.  He  had  studied 
Plato  Morse,  Babcuff,  Fourier  and 
Christ.  He  wrote  a  work  entitled 
“True  Christianity,"  where  he  dem¬ 
onstrated  that  Christ  was  a  com¬ 
munist  and  based  his  Utopia,  or 
new  system  of  organization  on 
Christ’s  moral  teaching*. 

Having  a  warm  heart,  lamenting 
over  the  poor  condition  of  the  labor¬ 
ing*  class, seeing  no  hope  of  amelior¬ 
ation  in  the  present  system  of  or¬ 
ganisation,  believing  in  the  practi¬ 
cability  of  communism,  he  resolved 


100047! 


9 


to  give  a  form  to  his  idea  and  wrote 
a  book  named  “Voyage  en  Icarie.’’ 
As  a  theorical  work  it  is  a  marvel. 
It  is  perfectly  splendid.  It  shows  a 
nation  under  the  communistic  or¬ 
ganization.  The  people  happy.  No 
poor,  no  rich.  Every  one  enjoying 
the  luxury  and  comfort  of  life,  every 
one  imbued  with  the  consciousness 
of  duty,  striving  to  do  better  than 
the  rest,  giving  good  examples,  no 
saloons,  no  churches,  no  houses  of 
prostitution,  no  gambling,  no  mur¬ 
ders,  no  thieves,  no  speculators,  no 
capitalists,  no  millionaires. 

It  just  tilled  the  aspirations  of 
those  who  wanted  radical  reform. 

Cabet,  though  fighting  the  estab¬ 
lished  order  of  things,  was  a  law 
abiding  citizen.  Was  opposed  to 
bloody  revolutions.  He  always  ad¬ 
vised  his  followers  not  to  take  part 
in  ail}'-  secret  societies,  but  to  abide 
laws  and  give  in  all  and  every  re¬ 
respect  an  example  of  morality  and 
good  behavior.  He  could  talk  the 
language  of  the  people  and  acquired 
a  strong  influence  and  reverence. 
Many  called  him  “Father”  and  a 
second  Christ.  He  published  a  pa¬ 
per  “Le  Populaire,  ”  and  it  was  thru 
this  organ  lie  communicated  with 


his  adepts  all  over  France.  As 
soon  as  he  was  satisfied  his  theory 
was  well  understood,  he  resolved  to 
wait  no  longer  to  put  it  into  prac¬ 
tice;  asked  the  French  government 
the  privilege  to  try  the  experiment 
in  France.  The  government  most 
respectfully  declined,  being  afraid 
of  contagion.  He  then  proposed  to 
emigrate  to  the  United  States  where 
freedom  reigned  supreme.  He  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  obtaining  from  a  company 
a  land  grant  of  several  thousand 
acres  in  Texas.  He  made  an  appeal 
for  some  volunteers  to  form  the  ad¬ 
vance  guard  and  in  February,  1848, 
sixty-nine  men  met  with  him  in 
Paris  willing  to  leave  their  families 
in  France  to  go  to  a  mostly  wild 
country  to  establish  the  new  colony 
and  prepare  the  way  to  the  thou¬ 
sands  who  were  ready  to  follow. 
Cabet  presided  at  the  meeting  and 
set  them  in  knowledge  of  the  hard 
task  they  were  undertaking.  He 
explained  to  them  that  in  order  to 
make  a  success  of  communism  they 
had  to  renounce  individualism,  ego¬ 
tism,  make  complete  abnegation  of 
their  ownselves  and  submit  to  the 
dictation  of  the  majority. 

They  all  solemly  swore  that  they 


<& 


3 


were  willing  to  submit  to  these  con¬ 
ditions,  to  stand  all  sorts  of  priva¬ 
tions  and  suffering's  to  establish  a 
new  society  that  would  indubitably 
make  their  own  happiness  and  also 
that  of  the  whole  mankind.  They 
elected  E.  Cabet  dictator  of  said  so¬ 
ciety  for  ten  )*ears.  One  among 
them  having-  gained  Cabet’s  confi¬ 
dence  was  proposed  by  him  and  ac¬ 
cepted  as  director  of  the  young-  col¬ 
ony  in  the  absence  of  Cabet. 

The  enthuisasm  was  great  when 
they  embarked  at  the  city  of  Ee 
Havre.  The  Pioneers  of  Humanity 
(as  the)"  called  themselves)  looked 
splendid  in  their  black  velvet  suits. 
Thousands  of  friends  and  co-parti¬ 
sans  accompanied  them  to  the  sail¬ 
ing-  vessel.  The  air  resounded  with 
wishes  of  success, songs  of  hope  and 
love.  The  press  of  the  country  had 
to  admit  that  the  demonstration 
was  imposing  but  calm. 

Those  sixty-nine  men,  selected 
among  the  best  laboring  element, 
the  choice  of  the  worthy,  moral  and 
industrious,  reached  their  destina¬ 
tion — Texas.  From  Shreveport  on 
the  Red  river,  they  had  to  travel 
overland  a  few  hundred  miles.  The 
streams  were  swollen,  the  roads 


!  muddy,  but  they  were  young  and 
courageous  and  it  was  only  fun  to 
I  them.  When  on  the  place  they  be¬ 
gan  to  build  houses  and  till  the  soil, 
i  The  weather  was  beautiful,  the  sun 
mild,  the  air  filled  with  the  melo¬ 
dious  voices  of  birds;  the  herds  of 
wild  horses  coming  near  their  settle¬ 
ment  at  the  bugle  sound,  the  luxur¬ 
ious  vegetation  of  a  most  tropical 
climate,  the  good  quality  of  the  new 
cultivated  soil,  made  them  believe 
they  had  found  the  garden  of  Eden. 
In  the  month  of  June  the  sun  of 
Texas  and  the  miasmas  of  the  new 
soil  began  to  exert  their  influence 
on  the  courageous  toilers.  The  ma¬ 
laria  made  its  appearance;  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  were  affected  with  the 
malignant  fever  and  in  a  short  time 
nine  of  them  died.  They  had  not 
received  any  news  yet  from  their 
mother  country,  but  had  discovered 
that  their  director  “Gouhenant,  ”  in 
whom  Cabet  and  themselves  had 
placed  their  confidence  was  a  Jesuit, 
a  traitor.  (They  shaved  his  head 
and  chased  him  ignominously 
away.)  They  became  discourag-ed. 
One  morning  they  received  the  news 
that  a  revolution  had  taken  place  in 
France  and  the  republic  proclaimed. 


4 


They  hesitated  a  few  days  what  to 
do,  but  the  insalubrity  of  the  cli¬ 
mate  and  the  hope  of  a  better  gov¬ 
ernment  in  France  contributed  to 
their  decision  to  abandon  the  enter¬ 
prise.  Carrying*  their  sick, they  ret¬ 
rograded  to  Shreveport,  where  they 
met  a  second  advance  guard  com¬ 
posed  of  twenty-eight  members. 
They  consulted  and  decided  to  go  to 
New  Orleans.  When  they  arrived 
there  they  met  a  third  departure 
composed  of  ninety  members — men, 
women  and  children.  They  were 
without  a  leader.  Not  knowing 
what  to  do  they  wrote  to  Cabet 
for  advice.  Cabet  hesitated  for  a  mo¬ 
ment  whether  he  should  order  them 
back,  or  go  and  join  them.  His  best 
friends  advised  him  to  sta}7;  that  he 
could  do  more  for  the  cause  in 
France  than  in  the  United  States. 
But  he  was  too  deeply  engaged  al¬ 
ready  and  he  thought  best  to  start 
for  New  Orleans,  where  he  met  the 
disheartened  communists. 

The  presence  of  the  head,  the 
father, gave  them  courage.  They  re¬ 
mained  there  over  winter,  it  being 
not  the  proper  time  of  year  to  go 
north.  As  they  renounced  Texas  as 
too  unhealthy,  early  in  the  spring 


of  1849  they  sent  a  commission  to 
explore  the  Mississippi.  The  com¬ 
mission,  composed  of  three  members 
arriving  at  Nauvoo,  found  the  place 
just  evacuated  bj7  the  Mormons,  va¬ 
cant  houses,  land  in  cultivation; 
they  thought  the  place  well  adapted 
and  returned  quickly  to  New  Or¬ 
leans,  when  it  was  decided  to  try 
the  experiment  at  Nauvoo.  The 
cholera  had  made  its  appearance 
and  several  of  them  died  from  it. 
They  lost  a  few  while  on  the  river 
and  after  they  reached  Nauvoo  the 
disease  continued  to  exert  its  dead¬ 
ly  influence.  They  buried  their 
dead  at  night  all  over  town,  not  to 
awaken  the  suspicion  of  the  inhab¬ 
itants,  but  nevertheless  their  enthu¬ 
siasm  was  strong,  and  though  the y 
had  suffered  considerably  physical¬ 
ly,  the  moral,  the  spiritual,  was  all 
right.  They  were  young,  willing  to 
suffer — even  willing  to  die — for  the 
cause,  and  confident  in  themselves 
and  the  principles,  they  began(under 
the  leadership  of  the  father, the  sec¬ 
ond  Christ)  the  establishment  of 
Paradise  on  earth. 

For  the  benefit  of  )rour  readers 
who  are  not  aware  of  what  Icarian 
communism  means,  before  going 


5 


any  further  I  will  have  to  explain. 

Icarius  is  famous  for  having- 
manufactured  a  pair  of  wings  com¬ 
posed  of  beeswax;  adapted  these 
wings  to  his  body  and  attempted 
the  ascension  to  Heaven.  As  he  as¬ 
cended  towards  the  sun, the  heat  be¬ 
came  so  intense  that  the  wings 
melted  and  Icarius  fell  flat  on  the 
earth,  realizing  that  he  was  too 
pretensions  and  better  remain  on 
this  planet.  (This  is  about  what  the 
Icarian  communists  have  done  as 
the  experiment  will  show.)  For 
what  reason  Cabet  selected  that 
name  I  do  not  know. 

The  new^  society  was  based  on 
marriage  and  the  family.  The  prin¬ 
ciple  .of  free  love  was  not  admitted 
by  the  Icarians.  To  the  exception 
of  the  family,  everything  was  in 
common  among  them.  No  private 
property,  no  monies,  no  poor,  no 
rich,  no  competition,  no  antagon¬ 
ism;  complete  solidarity.  The  strong 
working  for  the  feeble,  the  sick; 
the  one  working  for  all  and  all 
working  for  one;  everyone  produc¬ 
ing  according  to  his  strength,  his 
talent,  his  skill  and  consuming  ac¬ 
cording  to  his  wants.  No  lawyers, 
but  arbitrators.  The  schools  open 


to  all  children  equally,  universal 
sufferage  for  men  above  twenty 
years  of  age,  women  having  the  de¬ 
liberative  right  and  as  soon  as 
enough  enlightened, the  consultative 
right.  The  people  having  its  full 
and  complete  sovereignty;  making 
its  own  law’s  and  willing  to  submit 
to  the  dictation  of  the  majority. 
Women  rehabilited,  cherished  and 
respected.  Love,  confidence,  secur¬ 
ity,  happiness. 

Our  pioneers  were  not  rich,  but 
they  inhaled  the  pure  air  of  freedom. 
Uncle  Sam  left  them  perfectly  free 
to  try  their  experiment.  I  doubt  if 
the  president  of  the  United  States 
at  that  time  ever  noticed  their  pres¬ 
ence  on  this  continent.  Their  neigh¬ 
bors  wTere  friendly,  wrell  disposed  to 
favor  them.  They  treated  them  as 
the  countrymen  of  Lafayette.  They 
had  nothing  to  struggle  against, 
but  human  nature;tlieir  own  nature. 
They  had  the  will  power,  the  skill 
as  mechanics,  a  new  and  rich  coun¬ 
try  and  complete  freedom. 

Their  first  move  was  to  organize 
their  government.  They  had  in 
France  elected  E.  Cabet  dictator  for 
the  term  of  ten  years.  On  the  re¬ 
mark  from  some  American  citizens 


it  was  contrary  to  the  institutions 
of  the  country,  they  concluded  to 
have  a  president  for  the  term  of  one 
year.  Cabet  was  elected  unanimous¬ 
ly.  The  ministorium  was  composed 
of  four  directors,  one  of  finance,  one 
of  industry  and  agriculture,  one 
of  nourishment  and  clothing’  and 
one  of  public  instruction.  They  es¬ 
tablished  a  branch  in  St.  Ton  is, 
Mo.,  as  a  means  of  exportation  for 
their  products, (industrial  products). 
A  large  proportion  of  the  members 
were  tailors  or  shoemakers  by  trade 
Being  in  need  of  money,  they  had 
fifteen  to  twenty  members  manu¬ 
facturing  clothing  and  shoes  which 
they  sold  in  St.  Louis.  They  also 
purchased  a  flour  mill  and  distillery 
and  began  the  manufacturing  of 
flour  and  whisky. 

They  were  offered  land,  farms  at 
very  low  figures,  but  Cabet  had  ex¬ 
amined  the  ruins  of  the  Mormon 
Temple,  that  could  be  seen  at  ten 
miles  distance.  They  had  not 
money  enough  to  buy  both,  land 
and  the  ruins,  but  those  ruins  work¬ 
ed  on  Cabet’ s  brains.  They  were 
renowned  already  and  when  con¬ 
nected  with  his  name,  they  both 
would  add  to  each  other’s  glory.  A 


few  of  the  members  would  have  pre¬ 
ferred  investing  the  money  in  land. 
They  thought  that  it  was  not  prac¬ 
tical,  not  wise  to  think  of  glory,  of 
monuments  when  they  had  no  cer¬ 
tainty  of  having  bread  for  their 
families,  but  the  prestige,  the  re¬ 
spect,  confidence  in  the  father  was 
so  great  that  those  thoughts  re¬ 
mained  buried  in  their  bosoms.  No 
one  dared  to  utter  a  word  in  opposi¬ 
tion  to  Cabet, and  his  will  prevailed. 
They  bought  the  ruins  for  the  sum 
of  one  thousand  dollars,  of  which 
they  paid  five  hundred,  and  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  Nauvoo  five  hundred, 
contributed  as  a  donation.  They 
rented  houses  and  farms.  They  or¬ 
ganized  their  schools,  a  music  baud 
composed  of  thirty-six  pieces,  a 
choir  and  a  theatrical  club.  They 
also  had  a  good  library .  As  every 
one,  in  order  to  be  admitted,  had  to 
pay  an  admission  fee  of  four  hun¬ 
dred  francs  ($80,00,)  and  clothing 
enough  for  four  years,  the  clothing 
question  was  easy  to  manage.  The 
food,  the  diet  was  an  every  day 
question.  They  could  not  always 
procure  very  selected  nutriment. 
Pork  and  beans  made  their  appear¬ 
ance  quite  of  ten  on  the  table.  Many  ot 


7 


them  had  been  accustomed  to  more 
delicacies,  especially  the  women. 
They  were  willing-  to  deprive  them¬ 
selves  of  all  the  comforts  of  life,  but 
it  lasted  too  long-;  some  became 
tired;  they  made  ready  to  leave.  As 
they  renounced  all  earthly  rig-hts  to 
private  property  and  bequeathed 
all  they  possessed  to  the  community, 
they  had  to  leave  without  a  penny, 
in  a  strange  country,  not  knowing 
the  language.  The  inhabitants  of 
Nauvoo  gave  an  entertainment  for 
their  benefit  to  defray  their  expen¬ 
ses  to  St.  Louis.  Some  worked  in 
Nauvoo  until  they  earned  enoug-h  to 
enable  them  to  travel.  Their  for¬ 
mer  brothers  and  father  were  im¬ 
placable.  Being-  in  a  precarious 
financial  condition  themselves,  they 
refused  any  aid  whatever.  No  mon¬ 
ey,  not  even  their  own  tools  to  exer¬ 
cise  their  professions,  were  restitu¬ 
ted  to  them.  They  were  considered 
as  enemies  and  treated  as  such. 
Cowards,  traitors,  felons,  were  the 
epithets  thrown  in  their  faces. 
They  had  not  the  qualifications  of 
true  communists.  They  were  too 
selfish;  too  much  under  the  influence 
of  the  old  world  habits. 

Being-  not  prepared  to  receive  new 


recruits,  they  ordered  the  emigra¬ 
tion  to  stop.  They  began  to  de¬ 
crease  in  number,  but  the  enthusiasm 
was  so  great  in  France  that  a  new 
expedition,  composed  of  forty, 
reached  Nauvoo  in  the  fall  of  1849. 
Myself  and  family  came  alone;  my 
father  and  mother  could  not  bear 
the  idea  to  wait  any  longer  to  estab¬ 
lish  paradise  on  earth.  We  reached 
Nauvoo,  Ill.,  on  March,  17th,  1850. 
While  in  St.  Bouis  (where  we  had  to 
remain  a  couple  of  days, as  the  river 
was  too  full  of  ice  and  boats  were 
not  running  any  farther  north,)  we 
met  the  father  and  one  of  the  secre¬ 
taries  trying  in  vain  to  borrow 
money.  My  father  having  $500.00 
was  welcome.  The  father  asked 
my  father  to  remit  those  $500.00  im¬ 
mediately.  My  father,  though  very 
enthusiastic,  found  the  request  very 
daring,  having  never  seen  Cabet  be¬ 
fore,  not  being  on  the  place,  yet  re¬ 
fused  to  remit  all,  but  condescended 
to  remit  half.  Cabet  bought  the 
necessary  articles  he  needed,  start¬ 
ed  back  to  Nauvoo,  paid  cabin  fare 
for  him  and  his  assistant,  with  our 
money  and  told  us  to  stay  and  take 
the  next  boat  and  come  on  deck. 
Such  little  incidents, little  nothings, 


8 


have  more  important  consequences 
than  they  are  credited  with.  While 
at  sea  my  father  made  the  acquain¬ 
tance  of  a  man,  also  on  his  way  to 
Nauvoo.  He  had  not  the  required 
amount  of  money  to  be  admitted, 
but  intended  to  work  at  New  Or¬ 
leans,  (where  he  had  some  friends), 
until  he  realized  enough  money  to 
pay  his  way  and  admission  fee.  The 
man  was  married.  His  wife  not 
endorsing  his  communistic  views, 
refused  to  follow  him.  He  left  her 
and  started.  My  father,  convinced 
of  the  good  moral  and  physical 
qualifications  of  the  man,  offered  to 
furnish  him  the  money,  and  he  con¬ 
sented  to  come  along.  When  at 
Nauvoo  we  made  our  application  for 
membership,  so  did  our  companion. 
Cabet  opposed  his  admission  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  left  his  wife  in 
France.  One  of  the  members  pres¬ 
ent  at  the  meeting  remarked  that  E. 
Cabet  himself  was  in  the  same  con¬ 
dition,  that  he  not  only  had  left  his 
wife,  but  his  children.  Neverthe¬ 
less  the  man  was  not  admitted. 
Cabet  knew  that  the  man  had  no 
money  of  his  own.  He  did  not  care 
to  have  any  more  members,  but  mon¬ 
ey,  and  knowing  that  he  would  get 


all  the  money  my  father  had  with¬ 
out  admitting  the  man,  he  opposed 
him  and  urged  my  father  to  tr}^  to 
recover  the  money  advanced  by  him 
to  pay  the  fare  from  New  Orleans  to 
Nauvoo  for  that  man.  My  father 
refused  to  do  so,  saying  it  was  not 
a  loan  but  a  gift. 

Early  in  spring  of  1850  on  Cabet’s 
proposition,  they  decided  to  rebuild 
the  Mormon  Temple.  The  stone 
work  only  was  standing,  w^alls  six¬ 
ty  feet  high.  The  upper  stories 
and  tower  were  constructed  of  wood 
and  had  been  destroyed  by  fire. 
They  sent  an  agent  north  to  pur¬ 
chase  the  neccessary  timber  and  in 
the  month  of  June  the  masons  be¬ 
gan  to  lay  the  foundation  to  rest 
the  columns  or  pilasters  to  support 
the  floors.  The  27th  of  June  eleven 
men  were  at  work  on  the  interior  of 
the  building.  I  was  one  of  them. 
At  3  o’clock  p.  m.  a  distant  report 
of  thunder  announced  the  approach 
of  a  storm.  At  their  request  I  step¬ 
ped  out  to  ascertain  whether  it  was 
a  severe  storm  or  not.  Seeing  only 
an  insignficant  cloud,  I  reported  no 
danger.  We  continued  to  work.  The 
basement  of  said  temple  was  divid¬ 
ed  into  small  rooms  on  either  side. 


9 


Two  of  these  rooms  had  been  cover¬ 
ed  with  boards.  One  on  the  north 
side  to  store  green  hides.  The  oth¬ 
er  on  the  south  side  to  store  tools. 
Suddenly  a  furious  wind  began  to 
blow;  four  of  the  masons  fearing 
the  non-solidity  of  the  walls,  left  to 
seek  shelter  elsewhere.  Seven  of  us 
remained,  taking*  refuge  in  the  tool 
room  on  the  south  side.  If  there  is 
a  Providence  it  was  on  our  side,  for 
hardly  had  we  taken  our  position 
than  the  tornado  began  to  tear 
small  rocks  from  the  top  of  the  walls 
and  flew  in  every  direction.  We  be¬ 
came  frightened.  Some  proposed 
to  run  away,  others  opposed  it  on 
the  ground  that  it  was  dangerous, 
as  those  loose  rocks  could  fall  on 
our  heads  and  kill  us.  Before  we 
had  decided  whether  we  should  stay 
or  run.  one  of  us  that  was  watching 
exclaimed:  “Friends,  we  are  lost, 
the  north  wall  is  caving  in!”  And 
so  it  was.  A  wall  sixty  feet  high 
was  coming  on  us,  having  onty  forty 
feet  to  expand.  We  fled  to  the  south¬ 
west  corner,  deafened  with  terror.  I 
for  one  heard  nothing.  The  fall  of 
that  wall  was  heard  three  miles 
away  in  the  country.  We  looked  at 
one  another.  All  alive,  but  as  white 


as  sheets.  The  wind  was  terrifflc, 
the  rain  was  blinding  us.  The  cloud 
was  touching  the  ground.  The 
most  severe  storm  I  ever  witnessed 
in  Nauvoo.  We  were  mostly  para¬ 
lyzed.  We  expected  every  minute 
the  other  walls  to  come  down.  Some 
of  the  top  rocks  had  fallen  within 
three  feet  of  us.  The  east  wall  was 
three  feet  out  of  plumb.  “Forward 
march!”  shouted  one  and  on  we  ran 
over  the  heaped  up  rocks  more  dead 
than  alive.  When  out,  it  was  so 
dark  that  we  could  not  find  any 
gates  and  jumped  over  fences.  I 
met  my  father  coming  to  the  rescue, 
all  alone.  Cabet  tried  to  prevent 
him  but  did  not  succeed.  The  storm 
lasted  three  hours.  Several  houses 
had  been  blown  down.  They  had 
built  their  laundry  in  a  creek  a  half 
mile  north  of  town;  twelve  women 
were  at  work.  Cabet  sent  a  man  to 
find  out  what  had  become  of  them. 
The  man  came  back  saying  that  the 
women  were  drowned  and  the  house 
carried  away.  The  water  was  run¬ 
ning  twelve  feet  high  in  the  creek. 
Only  the  next  morning  did  we  re¬ 
ceive  the  good  news  that  the  women 
were  all  safe,  but  had  hardly  time 
to  escape  through  the  windows.  So 


sudden  was  the  rise  of  the  water 
and  in  rain  and  storm  ran  to  a  farm 
house,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away.  A 
Swiss  family  had  just  time  to  leave 
a  brick  house  that  blew  down.  The 
loss  of  crops  and  property  was  great 
but  no  lives  were  lost. 

The  fall  of  that  wall  ended  the  re¬ 
building  of  the  temple. 

The  agent  they  had  sent  north  to 
buy  timber  for  the  building  had 
been  gone  for  several  months  al¬ 
ready,  and  not  receiving  any  news 
from  him  it  was  thot  some  accident 
happened,  perhaps  he’d  been  kill¬ 
ed  or  drowned.  He  never  came  back. 
A  love  affair,  and  the  news  that  the 
intention  to  rebuild  the  temple  was 
abandoned  had  kept  him  from 
returning,  but  was  alive.  He  was  a 
well  educated  man  and  as  an  archi¬ 
tect  built  the  capitol  of  the  state  of 
Illinois  at  Springfield.  And  if  I  am 
well  informed,  that  at  DesMoines 
city,  state  of  Iowa.  His  name  was 
Piquenard. 

The  inhabitants  of  Nauvoo  and 
surroundings  having  expressed 
their  disapproval  at  the  manner 
those  leaving  the  society  were  treat¬ 
ed,  without  any  means  whatever, 
fearing  to  irritate  their  neighbors, 


they  thought  more  prudent  to  allow 
from  $10  to  $20  per  head  of  family. 
It  was  also  decided  that  those  who 
would  be  admitted  in  the  future, 
would  be  entitled  to  recover  one- 
lialf  of  the  money  brought  by  them 
and  also  their  tools  in  case  the}' 
would  choose  to  leave. 

The  Icarians  in  France  were 
pressing.  Applications  were  receiv¬ 
ed  daily.  Some  of  the  faithful  were 
writing  letters  to  their  friends  and 
relations  praising  the  condition  of 
the  society.  Cabet  tried  to  stop  the 
emigration  but  failed.  They  would 
come  without  authorization  and 
when  here  had  to  be  admitted.  It 
became  urgent  to  erect  dwelling 
houses  and  a  dining  hall.  They 
adapted  a  circular  saw  to  their  mill 
and  as  it  was  supposed  the  islands 
opposite  Nauvoo  had  no  owners, 
they  chopped  trees  down  and  con¬ 
verted  them  into  timber.  They 
erected  a  building  120  feet  long  and 
40  feet  wide  with  an  aisle  30  feet 
long*  for  a  kitchen,  a  large  cellar 
the  whole  size  of  the  building.  The 
first  story  was  divided  into  a  work¬ 
ing  shop  for  the  ladies — dressmak¬ 
ing,  ironing  and  mending,  a  stage 
for  the  theatrical  performances, "and 


11 


the  balance,  80  feet  long*,  a  dining- 
hall.  A  buffet  or  large  stand  with 
shelves,  moving*  on  a  railway  from 
the  kitchen  to  the  hall,  loaded  with 
vituals,  plates,  knives  and  forks, 
excited  the  admiration  of  the  visi¬ 
tors.  Four  painters,  artists,  decor¬ 
ators,  adorned  the  walls  of  the  halls 
with  inscriptions.  The  Icarian 
principles,  moral  precepts,  could 
be  read  from  one  end  of  the  hall 
to  the  other.  They  had  up  to  that 
time  used  at  their  table  the  tin  gob¬ 
lets  and  plates.  They  decided  to 
have  glasses  and  porcelain  plates. 
The  second  story  was  divided  into 
rooms  16x20  for  lodging,  with  bal- 
con}^  all  around  the  building.  Fach 
family  was  allowed  one  room  with 
one  window  and  one  door, two  chairs 
a  table,  a  bed  and  looking*  glass ;the 
children  being  with  their  parents 
on  Sunday  only  and  never  at  night; 
they  had  their  dormatory  in  the 
school  houses.  Bachelors  had  one 
room  for  two,  or  more,  according  to 
the  size  of  the  room.  They  all  took 
their  repasts  in  common,  except  the 
nurses  who  were  allowed  a  little  ex¬ 
tra  and  at  home.  They  had  a  hos¬ 
pital  for  the>  sick,  with  an  extra 
cook.  They  also  had  a  pharmacy. 


The  use  of  whiskey  was  allowed 
for  those  exposed  to  the  weather 
and  performing  hard  labor,  even  to 
the  women,  those  doing  the  wash¬ 
ing.  Icarians  were  temperate  but 
not  tetotalers.  They  would  have 
preferred  wine  to  whiskey  but  they 
could  not  succeed  in  raising  the 
fruit,  having  only  in  cultivation  the 
French  varities  of  grapes,  that  were 
not  adapted  to  this  climate, 

Cabet  was  opposed  to  the  use  of 
tobacco  and  raised  war  against  it. 
Some  of  the  women  folks  used  snuff 
and  men  smoked.  Few  had  the 
habit  of  chewing.  They  raised  their 
own  tobacco.  Cabet  forgot  himself 
while  arguing*  against  the  dirty 
weed,  not  only  to  compare  those 
who  used  it  to  hogs,  but  said  that 
they  were  filthier.  Many  had  their 
most  tender  feelings  badly  hurt. 
They  thought  it  was  not  the  way  to 
make  them  renounce  their  habits, 
that  abusive  language  never  promo¬ 
ted  reform.  Some  got  stubborn  and 
swore  to  themselves  they  would 
smoke  anyway.  The  production  in 
all  the  different  branches  of  indus¬ 
try  was  small.  They  were  running 
in  debt  rapidly.  The  agriculture 
was  not  remunerative.  They  could 


12 


not  raise  corn  to  supply  tlieir  dis¬ 
tillery,  nor  wheat  for  the  flour  mill. 
They  were  drawing-  heavily  on  a 
commercial  house  in  St.  Louis,  and 
all  the  whiskey  and  flour  they  man¬ 
ufactured  was  always  shipped  to 
that  house  and  the  benefit  was 
small.  They  had  in  the  winter  a 
squad  of  twenty  to  thirty  men 
chopping-  wood  on  the  islands  for 
the  alimentation  of  the  mill.  Men 
that  never  handled  an  axe  before, 
were  sent  to  chop  wood.  They  had 
their  hands  blistered,  chopping*  a 
half  cord  of  wood  in  one  day.  They 
had  as  many  as  six  men  on  a  cross¬ 
cut  saw,  two  holding-  the  handles 
and  tw*o  others' on  each  side  pulling 
with  a  rope.  They  had  a  squad  of 
six  men  running-  a  flatboat  all  sum¬ 
mer  to  take  the  wood  down  to  the 
mill,  They  sometimes  carried  that 
wood  a  great  distance  on  their  back, 
(in  baskets  made  for  that  purpose,) 
from  the  interior  of  the  islands  to 
the  boat.  The  Icarians  did  not  show 
practicability  in  any  of  their  work. 
Was  it  the  want  of  interest  or  the 
lack  of  skill?  Perhaps  it  was  both. 
The  future  will  demonstrate. 

Communistic  life  is  in  accordance 
with  the  teachings  of  Christ  in  that 


respect  that  it  took  the  “care  for 
the  morrow”  away.  If  they  had 
performed  their  duty  or  not,  they 
expected  to  find  their  breakfast  ' 
ready  every  morning  when  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet  called  them  to 
the  refector}".  The  burden  rested 
on  the  directors.  They  had  to  care 
for  the  morrow  and  were  often 
greatly  embarrassed  what  to  bring 
on  the  table.  And  though  it  cost 
only  7  cents  per  capita  to  feed  and 
clothe  the  Icarians,  they  could  not 
manage  to  produce  enough.  They 
bought  their  groceries,  etc.,  at 
wholesale  price.  They  raised  their 
own  vegetables.  They  manufactur¬ 
ed  their  flour  and  whisky,  raised  - 
tobacco,  bought  beeves  and  hogs  on 
foot.  Had  all  the  advantage  of  cor¬ 
poration  in  buying,  but  the  produc¬ 
tion  was  lacking. 

Besides  their  own  production,  the 
money  paid  as  admission  fees, many 
had  a  surplus,  some  hundreds,  to 
thousands  of  francs  and  they  receiv¬ 
ed  from  the  mother  country,  a  fund 
called  “The  Icariau  subscription.” 

It  consisted  of  money  deposited  by 
some  poor  devils  who  were  not  in 
possession  of  a  sufficient  amount  to 
be  admitted  and  wei*e  paying 


13 


montlil}r  a  certain  sum  until  the ' 
full  amount  should  be  credited  to  ' 
them  and  then  could  join.  It  proved 
a  clear  loss  to  them. 

Cabet  convocated  some  extraor¬ 
dinary  g'eneral  assembly  of  all  the 
major  male  members.  Women  and 
minors  were  not  allowed  to  assist. 
There  they  remained  mostly  day  and 
night,  for  several  days  seeking  the 
remedy  to  the  growing  evil.  They 
accused  one  another  of  want  of  de¬ 
votion  to  the  cause,  to  the  princi¬ 
ples,  of  want  of  respect  and 
reverence  to  the  father,  Cabet 
reminded  them  of  the  beautiful 
letters i the3r  wrote  to  him  in  France, 
calling  him  a  father,  a  Christ,  a 
savior;  exhorted  them  to  have  confi¬ 
dence  in  him,  to  work  with  courag'e, 
that  under  his  leadership,  success 
was  certain.  That  the  principles 
were  good  if  they  only  would  prac¬ 
tice  them,  (if  he  had  said,  “could 
practice  them,”  he  would  have  been 
nearer  the  truth.) 

The  majority  of  the  members 
were  on  his  side  and  the  respect  for 
Cabet,  the  prestige  of  his  past  ca¬ 
reer  was  so  great  that  those  who 
could  detect  the  evil  influence  of  the 
principle  on  the  human  nature,  did 


!  not  dare  to  open  their  mouth  and 
;  sanctioned  b}r  their  silence  the  idea 
that  the  principles  were  not  to 
blame,  but  men.  Among'  themselves 
in  private  they  could  talk,  but  in 
presence  of  the  father,  they  were 
mute,  speechless.  A  man,  a  little 
one  too,  a  wooden  shoemaker  by 
trade,  had  at  one  of  thesemeetings 
the  courage  to  make  a  few  remarks 
on  the  principles  and  also  on  the 
father.  He  was  of  small  stature 
but  was  every  inch  a  man  and  ex¬ 
pressed  his  honest  opinion.  It  was 
too  much  for  Cabet,  who  had  been 
adulated  and  flattered.  He  looked 
at  the  man  a  few  minutes,  hardly 
believing  the  report  of  his  audible 
organ.  And  forgetting*  all  courtes¬ 
ies,  all  respect,  all  principles,  an¬ 
swered:  Is  it  possible  that  you,  you 
Janyrey  (it  was  the  name  of  the 
little  man,)  you  a  little  boy  (the 
man  was  thirty-five  years  of  age,)' 
allow  yourself  to  make  opposition 
to  me,  Cabet.  Was  that  not  a  splen¬ 
did  way  of  argumentation?  I  was 
onl}r  seventeen  years  of  age  then, 
a  mere  boy,  too  bashful  to  open  1113" 
mouth  in  public.  But  I  turned 
around  to  see  if  not  a  man  in  the 
assembty  would  g*et  up  and  take 


14 


the  part  of  that  little  man,  that 
showed  so  much  courage.  No,  not 
one.  All  slaves  to  the  powerful 
Cabet. 

When  the  assembly  would  show 
some  hesitation  to  adopt  the  meas¬ 
ures  proposed  by  him,  he  would  get 
out  of  temper  and  menace  them  to 
go  back  to  Prance,  and  leave  them 
to  their  fate.  He  had  his  secret 
police  and  tried  to  have  the  mem¬ 
bers  tell  on  one  another.  He  met 
very  often  some  straight  and  loyal 
natures  that  were  shocked  at  the 
idea  to  act  as  spies.  Man}^  began 
to  inwardly  lose  their  respect  for 
him. 

The  different  shops  or  corps  of 
laborers  were  under  the  direction  of 
a  foreman,  elected  by  the  very  shop 
or  corps  itself,  sometimes  unani¬ 
mously,  sometimes  not.  Those  di¬ 
rectors  would  make  remarks  especi¬ 
ally  to  those  that  voted  against 
them.  Por  the  smallest  infringe¬ 
ment,  transgression,  tardiness,  or 
use  of  vulgar  language,  they  would 
be  noticed  in  their  reports.  Those 
reports  were  read  to  the  general  as¬ 
sembly  as  a  moral  incentive  to  good 
behavior  and  dutiful  conduct,  and 
and  at  the  same  time  as  a  restric¬ 


tive  pressure  of  public  opinion — the 
only  mode  of  punishment  they  had 
for  small  deviation  to  the  princi¬ 
ples.  Those  men  would  generally 
feel  grieved  about  it  and  their  hu¬ 
man  nature  would  influence  them  to 
not  forget  nor  forgive.  The  direc¬ 
tors  had  to  see  that  the  work  should 
be  well  done.  They  had  their  ways, 
customs  of  working.  It  was  their 
duty  and  right  to  make  remarks. 
Some  of  the  directors  as  well  as  la¬ 
borers  wrere  quick  tempered  or  had 
a  poor  way  to  express  themselves. 
Words  were  exchanged  and  the  fist 
was  sometimes  used  as  a  way  of  ar¬ 
gumentation. 

The  majorit}?-  of  the  members 
composing  the  Icarian  Society  was 
a  selection  from  the  best  laboring 
class  of  Prauce.The  most  laborious, 
honest,  economical,  intelligent  and 
philanthropic.  They  had  the  pro¬ 
found  conviction  that  they  were 
able  to  carry  out  the  communist 
principles.  They  had  the  determin¬ 
ation,  the  will  (they  thought)  that 
would  overcome  all  obstacles,  all 
difficulties  and  enable  them  to 
stand  and  support  all  privations. 
Cabet,  on  his  side,  was  determined 
to  sacrifice  his  career,  his  family, 


15 


inmmrnrti,  —  pfc— ar—f  •  ■  r  ni^i  x»’«r»  wf  «>■«— M  — C1  **■» 

happiness,  even  his  life,  out  of  love 
for  the  laboring-  class  and  to  show 
the  practicability  of  communism. 
They  and  he  were  in  ernest.  But 
they  were  human.  The  ego  was  too 
strong  to  be  subdued  by  the  will. 
They  were  under  the  influence  of 
their  sensations  and  without  being 
conscious  of  it  were  constantly 
blaming  others  and  hurting  the 
feelings  of  those  thej^  called  broth¬ 
ers.  They  saw  the  straw  in  others 
ej^es  and  did  not  see  the  beam  in 
their  own.  As  they  had  the  same 
rights,  the  same  duties,  the  same 
privileges,  they  naturally  thought 
themselves  authorized,  entitled  to 
watch,  to  detect,  to  mention  the 
neg'ligence,  the  errors,  the  lack  of 
skill,  the  want  of  economy,  the 
wasting  and  squandering,  the  abuse 
of  authority  of  some  of  the  officers; 
in  one  word  all  that  could  injure 
the  interest  and  endanger  the  ex¬ 
istence  of  the  society. 

The  Icarians  having  abolished 
all  moneys,  had  no  medium  to  buy 
with.  When  they  needed  clothing, 
they  had  to  submit  their  requests 
to  a  commission  instituted  to  that 
effect.  The  proceedings  and  delib¬ 
erations  of  that  commission  would 


transpire  and  the  indiviual  who  had 
applied  for  a  pair  of  trousers,  a 
shirt,  or  anything  else  would  have 
to  hear  that  some  remarks  had 
been  m*ide  on  the  validity  of  his  re¬ 
quest.  That  he  was  wearing  his 
clothes  too  fast,  that  he  was  appty- 
ing  too  often.  That  he  could  do 
without  yet.  Sometimes  his  re¬ 
quest  was  rejected.  That  individ¬ 
ual  felt  mortified  and  would  observe 
that  others  had  obtained  some  ar¬ 
ticles  who  did  not  need  them  as 
bad  as  he  did  and  were  not  working 
as  hard  as  he  did.  Discontentment 
and  abatement  was  the  result. 

They  exploited  a  coal  mine  in 
Nauvoo  along*  the  south  side  of 
Thirteenth  street.  A  vein  of  coal 
from  eight  to  ten  inches  thick  cov¬ 
ered  by  twelve  to  fourteen  feet  of 
ground  and  consequently  not  fur¬ 
nishing  enough  to  supply  the  wants 
of  the  society.  Being  always  too 
busy  to  provide  for  fuel  in  the  right 
season,  when  the  roads  were  good, 
they  had  to  send  teams  to  Foun¬ 
tain  Green,  thirty  miles  distant,  in 
the  coldest  weather.  When  the 
wagons  were  unloaded  the  coals 
were  carried  away  so  rapidly  that 
those  who  were  appointed  to  dis- 


16 


tribute  tliem  equals  among-  the 
members  and  whose  duty  it  was  to 
ascertain  that  ever3T  one  would  g-et 
some,  could  not  prevent  some  from 
making-  larg-e  provisions  that  would 
keep  them  supplied  in  case  it  would 
become  impossible  to  provide  for 
more,  without  considering-  whether 
women,  children  or  the  sick  had 
any  at  all.  Butter  was  a  rare  ar¬ 
ticle  on  the  table.  (Each  table  had 
ten  occupants.)  A  piece  of  butter 
was  broug-lit  g-enerall3T  for  break¬ 
fast.  That  piece  of  butter  was  in¬ 
tended  for  ten  persons.  Some,  con¬ 
sulting-  onty  their  desire,  their  ap¬ 
petite,  would  allow  themselves  to 
take  such  share  of  it,  that  before 
the  butter  could  reach  the  other  end 
of  the  table  it  was  exhausted  and 
some  had  to  do  without.  Complaints, 
remarks,  exchang-e  of  bitter  expres¬ 
sions.  The  cooks  devised  the  ex¬ 
pedient  of  having-  a  form  mould  in 
which  the  butter  was  pressed  and 
divided  into  ten  equal  shares,  in  or¬ 
der  that  each  and  every  one  should 
know  what  he  was  entitled  to  and 
secure  the  butter-rig-lit  of  others. 
Many  were  shocked  at  the  humiliat¬ 
ing-  and  degrading-  measure.  Men 
and  women lof  intellect- — in  full  pos- 


;  session  of  their  five  senses,  being- 
J  treated  like  small  children.  Human 
nature.  The  beast  beg-an  to  show 
itself,  plainl3T  upsetting-  all  the 
beautiful  dreams.  Idealism.  Many 
beg-an  to  acknowledg-e  that  we 
(when  they  said  we,  they  meant  the 
others)were  not  able,  not  worthy  of 
living-  in  community.  Having-  been 
raised  under  the  influence  of  indi¬ 
vidualism,  we  could  not  be 
expected  to  fulfill  the  require¬ 
ments  of  such  mode  of  life.  But 
our  children  who  would  grow  up 
under  the  institution,  who  would 
know  nothing-  of  any  other  organi¬ 
zation,  they  would  be  competent,  up 
to  the  standard.  We  will  see. 

The  men  in  charg-e  of  the  flat 
boat  to  transfer  the  wood  from  the 
islands  to  the  mill,  g-enerally  landed 
their  last  load,  every  week,  on  Sat¬ 
urday  evening-.  In  order  that  the 
boat  should  be  unloaded  to  enable 
them  to  start  up  on  Monday  morn¬ 
ing-  an  appeal  was  made  on  Snnda3T 
morning-  during-  breakfast,  for  some 
volunteers  to  unload  that  boat,  (as 
it  was  supposed  the  boat  men  were 
exhausted,  their  labor  being-  con¬ 
sidered  one  of  the  hardest.)  At  the 
first  call,  fifty  to  sixty  men  offered 


17 


their  services.  The  boat  was  un¬ 
loaded  in  a  half  hour.  It  was  mere¬ 
ly  pla}r.  Do  you  see  the  advantage 
of  communism  (was  said.)  When 
necessary  union  can  perform  an  ex¬ 
traordinary  duty  with  pleasure. 
Most  every  Sunday  the  call  was  re¬ 
peated.  The  most  faithful  consid¬ 
ered  it  a  sacred  duty  and  they  re¬ 
sponded  to  the  call  cheerfully.  They 
soon  had  to  notice  that  some  who 
did  help  the  first  time  did  not  come 
again.  That  some  never  came.  That 
their  number  was  decreasing  every 
Sundaj7.  The  work  that  was  mere¬ 
ly  fun  when  performed  by  sixty  be¬ 
came  hard  labor  by  twenty  or  fif¬ 
teen.  Finally  they,  one  by  one, 
failed,  and  one  Sunday  morning  j 
when  the  director  of  industry  called 
for  volunteers,  one  man  answered. 
Yes,  only  one.  We  had  only  one  j 
good  communist. 

Instead  of  creating  a  feeling  of 
grief,  every  one  present  laughed  at 
it.  So  did  devotion,  enthusiasm 
wear  out  in  three  years.  Some  had 
the  conscience  of  abnegation.  Others 
had  not.  The  bad  examples,  the 
wrong  predominated  and  no  one 
was  willing  to  perform  any  extra 
duty  but  confined  himself  to  the  ful¬ 


fillment  of  the  genereral  duty. 

It  was’nt  allowed  to  have  anything 
not  possessed  bj"  others.  Some  had 
jewels,  watches,  pictures,  guns.  As 
the  society  was  not  rich  enough  to 
supply  all  the  members  with  the 
like,  those  in  possession  of  such  ar¬ 
ticles  were  requested  to  deposit 
them  in  the  hands  of  the  directors. 
Some  (women  especially)  had  receiv¬ 
ed  those  jewels  from  a  mother,  rel¬ 
atives  or  friends  as  a  token  of  love 
or  friendship.  They  did  not  like  to 
part  with  those  objects. Some  would 
keep  a  few  hens  in  order  to  have  a 
few  fresh  eggs,  others  would  culti¬ 
vate  a  few  flowers,  others  had  been 
caught  or  suspected  of  cooking 
I  extras  for  themselves,  at  home. 
Derogation,  deviation  from  the 
principles,  anarchy! 

It  looks  most  ridiculous  to  relate 
these  small  events.  But  they  work¬ 
ed  slowly  and  surely  to  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  society,  as  they  created 
enmity  among  the  members.  They 
were  none  others  but  the  natural 
requirements  of  the  human  nature 
which  can  not  be  submitted  to  uni¬ 
formity  in  all  things.  And  the 
more  it  is  made  compulsory,  the 
more  human  nature  will  rebel 


18 


against  it,  and  go  for  the  forbidden 
fruit. 

In  1852  Cabet  was  summoned  to 
appear  before  a  criminal  court  in 
Paris  to  answer  an  accusation  of 
fraud.  He  at  once  resolved  to  go 
and  clear  himself  from  the  accusa¬ 
tion.  He  was  honest  and  his  good 
name  was  dearer  to  him  than  life. 
Though  old  he  crossed  the  ocean  to 
confound  his  accusators.  He  clear¬ 
ed  himself,  rehabilitated  his  reputa¬ 
tion,  and  in  1853  came  back  faith¬ 
fully  to  Nauvoo,  more  convinced 
than  ever  that  he  would  make  a  suc¬ 
cess  of  the  experiment. 

The  children,  the  ones  in  whom 
rested  our  hopes  for  the  realization 
of  communistic  life,  were  cautiously 
and  rigidly  trained  and  educated. 
The  schools  were  kept  in  good  or¬ 
der  and  perfect  control  under  the 
management  of  male  and  female 
teachers.  The  latter  were  especi¬ 
ally  well  qualified,  morally  and 
mentally.  The  pupils  were  allowed 
as  little  as  possible  to  come  in  con¬ 
tact  with  the  elder  members  of  the 
society.  The  girls  had  their  schools 
separate  from  the  boys  and  taught 
by  female  teachers.  They  all  were 
instructed  to  practice  the  Icarian 


principles  and  the  moral  teachings 
of  Christ. 

Cabet  himself  initiated  those 
young  beings  with  those  principles, 
explained  and  praised  the  result  of 
being  good,  of  “doing  unto  others 
as  we  wish  to  be  done  by.”  To 
protect, love  and  work  for  the  feeble, 
the  sick;  to  forgive;  to  hold  the  oth¬ 
er  cheek  when  smitten  on  the  one; 
to  be  kind,  one  to  another;  to  love 
and  respect  their  parents  and  every¬ 
body  in  general. 

They  were  kept  clean  and  trained 
to  do  their  own  housework  by  turn. 
They  took  their  meals  in  their  re¬ 
spective  school-houses. 

They  were  allowed  to  see  their 
parents  only  on  Sundays.  It  was 
feared  that  too  much  intercourse 
with  their  parents  would  have  a 
contaminating  influence. 

Three  of  the  older  boys  were 
taught  separately  from  the  others 
in  a  special  room,  by  la  special 
teacher,  having*  shown  an  uncon¬ 
trollable  disposition  and  being  con¬ 
sidered  a  dangerous  example.  The 
fair  being  who  afterwards  became 
my  wife,  being  fourteen  years  of 
age,  when,  with  her  mother,  she 
joined  the  society,  was  not  allowed 


19 


the  attendance  to  school  (though 
she  needed  it  ver)r  much,)  on  the 
pretense  that  she,  having  been 
raised  in  the  old  world  might  set  a 
bad  example  to  the  selected  ones 
supposed  to  be  pure  as  ang-els. 

The  Icarians  had  no  form  of  re¬ 
ligion — no  ceremonies.  The  major¬ 
ity  were  agnostics,  some  atheists, 
theists,  others  spiritualists.  They 
all  revered  Christ  as  a  g*reat  philos¬ 
opher  and  philanthropist,  and  ad¬ 
mired  his  moral  teachings. 

Cabet,  on  Sundays,  held  a  course 
of  lectures  on  true  Christianity. 
Leaving  the  miraculous  and  super-  j 
natural  part,  he  tried  to  demon¬ 
strate  that  Christ’s  moral  teaching 
was  perfect  and  based  on  commun¬ 
ism,  because  Jesus  and  his  disciples 
had  everything'  in  common  among  I 
themselves  and  were  not  allowed  to 
own  anything  in  private — Apostles,  j 
chap.  2  and  3;  that  to  reserve  and  . 
keep  for  private  use  any  portion  of  ! 
wealth  was  condemned,  as  shown  j 
in  Ananias'  case — Apostles,  5;  the  j 
renouncement  of  accumulated  j 
wealth,  and  that  the  only  true  hap¬ 
piness  consisted  in  loving*  one  an¬ 
other — being  one  in  soul  and  spirit. 

Those  lectures  were  very  at¬ 


tractive  and  well  attended,  be¬ 
ing  delivered  by  a  forcible  and  elo¬ 
quent  orator.  It  is  so  eas}r  to 
preach  morality  to  others. 

When  the  Icarians  compared  the 
theory  with  the  practice;  when  they 
seen  how  far  they  were  from  the 
mark,  they  began  to  think,  and  like 
many  others  that  are  not  Icarians 
are  asking:  “where  are  the  Chris¬ 
tians?” 

Their  recreations  were  also  moral. 
Nothing  was  allowed  that  would 
liave  shocked  the  most  scrupulous 
nature.  All  song's,  poems  or  dram¬ 
as  exhibited  on  their  stage  were 
submitted  to  a  commission,  which 
did  carefully  eliminate  all  that  could 
have  a  demoralizing  influence. 

All  the  exercises  were  in  the 
French  language.  Many  of  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  Nauvoo  and  vicinity 
though  not  understanding  one  word, 
attended  (when  invited)  and  enjoy¬ 
ed  the  performance.  Dancing*  was 
also  indulg'ed  in, but  only  b3r  adults. 
Children  were  not  allowed  to  take 
part. 

The  Icarians  being  convinced  that 
Nauvoo  was  too  narrow  a  field  for 
their  undertaking,  the  land  too  high 
in  price  for  their  means,  and  not 


20 


enough  of  it  vacant  to  develop  a 
large  society,  resolved  in  1853  to 
send  a  commission  to  the  western 
states  to  explore  the  country  and 
select  a  site  for  the  final  establish¬ 
ment.  The  commission  having  ex¬ 
plored  Missouri  and  Iowa,  reported 
favorably  for  Iowa,  Adams  count}7. 
The  shores  of  the  Nodaway  river 
was  the  selected  spot.  They  sent  a 
corps  of  vigorous  men  with  teams 
and  wagons  loaded  with  all  the  nec- 
cessary  implements  to  begin  the  es¬ 
tablishment  in  the  wilderness.  Be¬ 
ing*  the  first  settlers  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  they,  under  the  home¬ 
stead  law,  took  possession  of  all  the 
timber  land.  It  was  not  exactly  the 
best  land  for  farming  but  the  most 
valuable,  as  timber  was  scarce  in 
that  part  of  Iowa,  being  mostly 
rolling  prairie  land. 

They  homesteaded  three  or  four 
thousand  acres  of  land.  They  had 
room,  a  vast  field  for  operation. 
They  at  once  started  the  erecting  of 
log  houses  and  to  break  the  soil. 
When  the  emigration  began  to  set¬ 
tle  around  them  the  new  settlers 
had  to  go  to  the  Icarians  for  wood; 
it  was  a  source  of  production. 

Kvery  year  some  members  were 


sent  to  reinforce  the  new  establish¬ 
ment,  but  it  worked  slowly.  The 
new  settlers  could  not  sustain 
themselves.  They  were  constantly 
calling  for  aid  from  the  mother  col¬ 
ony  that  was  not  self  sustaining, but 
had  to  be,  by  money  brought  by 
new  comers  or  by  the  Icarian  sub¬ 
scription  from  France. 

The  production  in  the  new  estab- 
lisment  was  small.  Money  and 
provisions  had  to  be  forwarded 
to  them  often,  and  the  so¬ 
ciety  had  to  increase  its  debt  which 
was  large  already.  Cabet  accom¬ 
panied  by  two  other  members  went 
over  the  plains  in  a  buggy  to  exam¬ 
ine  the  location.  The  new  log  house 
Metropole,  was  baptised  by  Cabet. 
Icaria  was  the  name  chosen. 

In  Nauvoo  the  situtation  was 
growing*  worse  every  day.  The  dif¬ 
ferent  categ'ories  of  members  was 
creating*  jealousy,  discontentment. 
The  primitive  members  had  given, 
abandoned  all  they  owned  in  the 
world.  Others  had  been  since  ad¬ 
mitted  under  the  condition  that 
half  of  what  they  owned  when  ad¬ 
mitted  would  be  restituted  to  them 
in  case  they  would  choose  to  retire. 
The  former  claimed  that  this  condi- 


21 


tion  was  the  cause  of  their  want  of 
activity,  of  interest.  That  if  they 
had  cut  bridges  and  burnt  their  ves¬ 
sels  behind  them,  having*  no  means 
of  leaving*  the  society,  they  would 
try  their  best;  they  would  root  or  j 
die.  A  pressure  was  made  to  in- j 
duce  those  members  to  renounce ' 
their  privilege  as  detrimental  to  the  j 
welfare  of  the  societ}^.  To  put , 
themselves  on  equal  footing  with  ! 
the  rest  of  the  members,  A  few  did  , 
it.  Many  refused, saying  they  were 
not  fool  enough  to  tie  themselves 
and  be  at  the  mercy  of  others.  Some  j 
were  also  suspected  to  have  follow-  J 
ed  the  example  of  Ananias  (Apostles  | 
chapter  v. )  and  kept  a  reserve  fund 
for  a  case  of  emergency.  Hard  feel¬ 
ing's  prevailed. 

In  searching  a  remedy  to  the  lack 
of  production,  some  of  the  members 
conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  few 
changes  in  the  organization.  The}7 
proposed  to  keep  an  account  of  the 
production  of  each  member  and  also 
of  each  shop.  To  create  a  sort  of 
stimulant,  a  sort  of  competition,  a 
little  individualism;  not  to  depend 
entirely  on  the  consciousness  of 
duty,  that  had  proved  deficient. 
Cabet  was  shocked  at  the  proposi¬ 


tion,  claming  that  individualism 
and  communism  were  heterogenious: 
that  the  former  would  surely  grow 
rapidly  and  destroy  the  later.  He 
called  a  meeting  of  the  g'eneral  as¬ 
sembly  as  lie  had  done  before  to 
every  proposition  that  had  not  been 
elaborated  b}r  his  own  brain,  stated 
the  proposition  and  without  any 
further  discussion,  compared  the 
situation  to  that  of  a  vessel  at 
sea  with  two  pilots  on  board — a 
young  one  and  an  old  experienced 
one.  The  storm  is  strong';  the  sea 
high;  the  compass  out  of  order;  the 
reefs  supposed  to  be  near.  The  old 
pilot  having  more  experience,  tho 
the  reefs  can  hardly  be  detected, 
knows  the}’-  are  near  and  prepares 
to  turn  to  the  right.  The  young* 
pilot  does  not  see  them,  advises  to 
go  straight  on.  The  dang’er  is  im¬ 
minent,  the  passengers  not  under¬ 
standing  the  real  situation,  but 
fearing  the  danger,  to  whom  do 
you  suppose  they’ll  confide  the  rud¬ 
der?  To  the  old  experienced  pilot,  of 
course. 

The  old  pilot,  Cabet  claimed  su¬ 
premacy  and  always  refused  to 
listen  to  any  motion  of  reform  to 
his  perfect  system. 


Many  losing-  confidence  in  the  old 
pilot,  left  the  societ}^.  They  were 
and  had  been  leaving-  as  fast  as  they 
would  come,  so  that  in  six  years 
1,800  persons  came  to  it  and  we 
were  never  more  than  500  tog-ether 
at  the  same  time.  When  too  strong- 
opposition  was  made,  Cabet  would 
try  his  best  to  have  the  promotors 
leave. 

“It  is  the  quality  we  want  and 
not  the  quantit}^.  When  a  member 
of  the  body  is  mortifying-,  is  it  not 
better  to  sever  the  member  than  ex¬ 
pose  the  whole  body  to  perish?  If 
two  doctors  are  consulted,  a  young- 
one  and  an  old  one,  (the  latter  hav¬ 
ing-  had  hundreds  of  such  cases 
under  his  care  and  knowing  the  dis¬ 
astrous  consequences  of  mortifica¬ 
tion)  will  you  not  take  the  advice  of 
the  old  experienced  one  and  have 
the  member  severed  in  time  to  save 
the  whole  body,  instead  of  listening 
to  the  young  doctor*  who,  in  his  ig¬ 
norance,  hopes  to  save  both,  not 
knowing  the  consequences  of  the 
disease?”  Many  will  be  called,  but 
few  will  be  elected. 

So  we  went  on,  losing  many  of 
our  most  valuable  members.  The 
most  courageous,  industrious.  As 


soon  as  one  showed  discontent  he 
was  suspected  of  making  calcula¬ 
tions  to  leave  and  a  sort  of  persecu¬ 
tion  was  exerted.  Lafe  to  him  was 
made  unendurable  and  the  position 
untenable.  He  had  to  leave;  in¬ 
stead  of  listening  to  their  proposi¬ 
tion  and  making  a  few  concessions 
to  induce  them  to  stay — no,  go  they 
must. 

Some  of  the  young  doctors  (and 
they  were  man}^)  thought  and  said 
the  old  one  was  mistaken  in  the  na¬ 
ture  of  the  disease;  that  instead  of 
mortification  it  was  paralysis — that 
instead  of  .  severing  so  many  mem¬ 
bers,  which  weakened  the  body  and 
made  it  helpless,  an  electric  battery 
(under  the  form  of  a  reform)  should 
be  applied;  that  it  would  stimulate 
those  members  and  restore  life  over 
the  whole  body.  They  thought  the 
old  pilot  was  getting  too  old  and 
was  following  a  wrong  route, 
which  surely  would  bring  the  ship 
to  wreck. 

The  prestige  had  vanished. Cabet 
had  been  too  much  in  direct  contact 
with  his  associates,  They  had  dis¬ 
covered  that  he  was  fallible,  and  be- 
g-an  to  consider  him  as  a  man;Cabet 
feeling  the  opposition  growing 


every  day,  thougiit  of  strengthening’ 
his  position.  Having  for  counsel¬ 
ors  a  few  new  members  who  flatter¬ 
ed  him  and  pretended  to  know  how 
to  compel  men  to  work,  to  produce; 
they  had  been  sly  enough  to  work 
him  up  so  that  he  thot  himself  the 
father  of  the  new  idea.  In  the 
spring  of  1856  he  came  out  with  his 
famous  proposition: 

1.  The  president  should  be  elected 
for  four  years. 

2.  Inspectors  should  be  appointed 
by  the  direction  to  visit  the  differ¬ 
ent  shops  to  report  whether  the 
members  were  fulfilling  their  duties. 
This  proposition  filled  the  measure. 
The  idea  to  have  inspectors,  drones, 
aristocrats,  that  would  spend  time 
doing  nothing  and  act  as  spies 
against  their  brothers.  The  oppo¬ 
sition  organized  and  the  day  of  the 
election  Cabet  found  himself  face 
to  face  with  a  candidate  for  the 
presidency  in  opposition  to  him. 

He  never  expected  so  much  audac¬ 
ity  and  became  raving  mad.  He 
kept  the  assembly  three  days  to¬ 
gether  trying  to  influence  the  bash¬ 
ful,  the  old,  the  women  by  threaten¬ 
ing  to  leave,  to  abandon  them  show¬ 
ing  the  danger  they  were  running 


into.  What  would  become  of  them 
if  he,  Cabet,  were  no  more  among 
them.  Misery,  anarchy  and  disso¬ 
lution  of  the  society  would  surely 
follow. 

The  children  had  lost  respect  and 
confidence  in  the  father.  The  prop¬ 
osition  was  rejected  and  the  ticket 
of  the  opposition  was  elected  by  a 
strong  majority.  One  of  the  young 
pilots  had  been  intrusted  with  the 
rudder. 

Cabet  and  the  members  of  the 
minority  held  long  conferences  to¬ 
gether  and  it  was  resolved  to  resist 
the  majority.  Their  first  move  was 
to  refuse  to  work,  but  went  regular¬ 
ly  to  the  refractory  to  take  their 
meals. 

The  majority  gave  them  three 
days  to  resume  work;  to  abide  by 
the  laws  and  submit  to  the  majority 
or  they  would  not  be  admitted  to 
the  dining  hall. 

Cabet  advised  his  followers  not  to 
submit  and  the  third  day  when  they 
came  to  take  their  dinner,  they 
found  the  doors  closed.  They  took 
axes  and  split  them  open;  a  fight 
ensued;  a  mob;  civil  war.  The  ma¬ 
jority  held  the  fort  and  the  minority 
was  expelled  from  the  hall.  They 


24 


were  notified  that  food  would  be 
furnished  for  women  and  children. 

The  next  day  the  male  members 
of  the  minority  came  to  the  kitchen 
with  tin  buckets  to  receive  the 
promised  food.  When  the  distribu¬ 
tion  was  completed  they  began  to 
vociferate,  to  use  abusive  language, 
spilt  the  food  on  the  ground,  stuck 
the  bread  on  the  end  of  long  poles 
they  had  brought  for  that  purpose 
and  marching  and  counter-marching 
paraded  in  front  of  the  refectory.  It 
was  a  disgusting  sight.  Cabet  from 
the  windows  of  his  office  encourag¬ 
ed  them  and  laughed  at  their  doings 

This  stopped  the  distribution  of 
food. 

The  inhabitants  of  Nauvoo  held 
secret  meetings,  organizing  and  pre¬ 
pared  to  chase  the  boisterous  com¬ 
munists  ;as  they  had  chased  the 
Mormons  before. 

As  the  act  of  violences  discontin¬ 
ued,  the  project  was  abandoned. 

This  is  the  time  when  I  left  the 
society,  having  lost  confidence  in 
both  parties.  We  had  come  to  Nau¬ 
voo  to  make  a  paradise  on  earth 
and  we  had  made  a  sheol.  I  tliot 
of  searching  for  happiness  else¬ 
where. 


As  the  society  was  incorporated, 
Cabet  made  an  appeal  to  the  tribu¬ 
nals  of  the  land  for  a  dissolution  of 
the  society,  but  throu  gh  a  good  at¬ 
torney,  lost  his  case.  The  verdict 
was,  that  he  had  to  submit  to  the 
dictation  of  the  majority. 

Cabet,  the  legist,  the  reformator, 
the  man  of  high  intellect,  gave  the 
example  of  insubordination,  of  re¬ 
volt,  and  had  he  an  army  at  his  dis¬ 
posal  would  have  employed  brutal 
force  to  crush  what  he  called  the 
rebels — formerly  his  best  friends, 
mostly  all  the  members  of  the  for¬ 
mer  directions;  men  of  talent,  of 
ability,  were  against  him. 

The  minority  under  his  command 
began  to  move,  carrying  away  all 
they  possibly  could.  They  did 
not  meet  with  any  opposition.  The 
members  of  the  majority  had  pit}" 
for  them. 

The  Icarians  had  a  valuable  libra¬ 
ry.  The  minority  wickedly  took 
away  a  few  volumes  of  each  work, 
tearing  the  engravings  in  order  to 
make  them  worthless. 

They  left  Nauvoo  in  the  fall  of 
1856  for  St.  Louis,  where  Cabet 
took  sick  and  died  during  the  win¬ 
ter.  He  was  found  one  morning 


frozen  in  his  bed,  the  faithful  hav¬ 
ing-  neg-lected  to  attend  his  last  mo¬ 
ments  and  to  keep  lire  in  his  room. 

Hanna,  Hanna,  Lama  Sabatani! 
So  ended  the  second  Christ,  the 
great  reformator.  Far  from  his 
country,  from  his  family,  cowardly 
abandoned  by  his  disciples. 

He  had  been  a  g-ood  man  while  in 
France.  As  an  attorne\T  he  was  al¬ 
ways  ready  to  take  the  defense  of 
the  weak,  the  oppressed,  regardless 
of  money.  His  intentions  had  been 
pure;  of  a  high  order.  His  will  was 
strong,  but  he  had  a  terrible  nature 
and  had  undertaken  a  task  be}rond 
his  faculties.  He  did  all  that  was 
in  his  power  to  do  good;  but  failed. 
He  suffered  much  morally  and  caus¬ 
ed  others  to  suffer.  I  for  one  have 
no  hard  feelings  against  him  and 
honor  his  memory,  appreciating  the 
intention.  I  blame  the  principles 
and  not  the  man.  The  spirit  was 
willing  but  the  flesh  was  too  strong. 

After  his  death  the  faithful  organ¬ 
ized  at  Cheltenham,  near  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  under  the  direction  of  Merca- 
dier  and  after  much  quarrelling, 
three  years  after  dissolved. 

In  Nauvoo  the  emancipated  child¬ 
ren,  the  rebels,  the  revolutionists, 


those  who  blamed  Cabet  for  the 
unsuccessfulness  of  the  experiment, 
the  members  of  the  majority,  were 
now  masters  of  the  situation  and 
believed  earnestly  that  they  were 
able  to  lead  the  ship  to  the  harbor. 
They  resolved  to  have  a  thorough 
liquidation  of  all  debts  in  order  to 
ascertain  how  they  stood  and  then 
leave  Nauvoo  for  the  new  establish¬ 
ment  in  Iowa.  The3r  began  to  send 
all  the  movable  material  the)r  could 
load  on  wagons  as  there  was  no 
railroad  yet  connecting  Nauvoo  with 
that  part  of  Iowa. 

In  the  spring  of  1854  the3r  sold  at 
auction  all  their  real  estate  and  per¬ 
sonal  propert3r  that  was  not  worth 
transferring. 

The  proceeds  of  the  sale  did  not 
prove  sufficient  to  cover  their  debt 
and  they  had  to  mortgage  their 
property  in  Iowa. 

The  liquidation  showed  clearly 
the3’'  owed  as  much  as  the3T  owned; 
$25,000  was  the  amount  of  the  debt 
and  the  invoice  did  not  produce  very 
mncli  more. 

Six  3Tears  of  communistic  life  had 
left  them  deficient.  The3r  had  not 
been  even  self-sustaining  and  had 
nothing  to  show  for  the  mone3r  each 


26 


one  brought  and  that  subscribed  in 
France,  the  amounts  of  which  had 
been  used  to  sustain  life. 

They  honestly  paid  all  their  debts 
in  Nauvoo  and  made  their  final  de¬ 
parture  in  the  fall  of  1858. 

The  new  colony  was  incorporated 
as  an  Agricultural  Society  under 
the  statutes  of  the  state  of  Iowa. 

They  closed  the  doors  to  emigra- 
tionpiot  having  lodging  enough  for 
new  recruits. 

The  news  of  the  dethronement  of 
Cabet,  of  the  civil  war,  amongst 
the  Icarians  had  somewhat  cooled 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  communists 
in  France.  The  uncertainty  of  the 
existence  of  the  colony  under  the 
new  direction  suddenly  stopped  the 
applications  for  membership.  The 
Icarian  subscription  ceased  also  to 
replenish  their  treasury  and  the  new 
colonj^  was  left  entirely  to  itself  for 
subsistence.  Production,  as  usual, 
was  small,  but  their  timber — the 
sale  of  wood,  was  a  source  of  wealth 
and  helped  them  along.  Quarreling 
kept  on  and  fighting  was  sometimes 
resorted  to. 

«  They  raised  hogs  and  sheep.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  rebellion  war,  wool  and  all 
products  in  general,  brought  good 


prices  and  enabled  them  to  save 
money. During  the  Pikes  Peak  fever, 
being  on  the  road,  they  kept  a  hotel 
and  made  enough  money  on  the  gold 
seekers  to  free  2,000  acres  of  land 
from  mortgage  and  abandon  the 
balance  to  the  creditors. 

Degree  by  degree  a  dissension  had 
taken  place  and  a  systematical  ma¬ 
jority  and  minority  were  in  exist¬ 
ence.  As  over  one-half  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  had  left  them  since  their  de¬ 
parture  from  Nauvoo  they  were  not 
ver}7  numerous.  Between  sixty  to 
seventy.  The  new  opposition,  the 
minority,  was  composed  mostly  of 
young  folks.  Some  of  those  child¬ 
ren  on  whom  rested  our  hopes  for 
the  future  had  become  of  age  and 
entered  the  arena  of  active  life. 
They  proposed  to  have  the  incorpor¬ 
ation  act  changed  and  not  be  con¬ 
fined  to  agriculture,  but  include  in¬ 
dustry  in  their  sources  of  exploita¬ 
tion,  reopen  the  doors  to  new  mem¬ 
bers  in  order  to  develop  the  society 
and  attract  the  attention  of  the 
outside  world. 

The  majority,  composed  of  old 
folks,  opposed  these  views.  They 
had  renounced  the  hope  of  making 
a  larg*e  society.  They  thought  of 


«r 


enjoying-  what  they  had  and  not 
risk  to  lose  it.  They  were  not  will¬ 
ing-  to  admit  new  members  for  fear 
of  losing*  their  majority  and  conse¬ 
quently  the  controlling  power. 

Emigration  was  covering  the 
country  around  them  with  settlers. 
A  railroad  was  built  and  a  station 
established  three  miles  from  their 
settlement.  Corning,  the  new  sta¬ 
tion,  was  growing  rapidly,  and  of. 
fered  a  good  field  for  speculation, 
The  Icarians  were  no  speculators 
and  thejr  remained  poor,  while  their 
neighbors  were  acquiring  wealth 
rapidly.  True  to  the  principles  the 
members  of  the  majority  refused  to 
take  part  and  engage  in  any  specu¬ 
lation.  They  quarreled  about  it 
until  it  was  too  late.  As  there  was 
no  flour  mill  in  the  neighborhood 
they  built  one  for  their  own  use  and 
afterward  done  custom  work. 

In  1872,  four  communards  (who 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
French  commune  in  1870  in  Paris, 
had  fled  to  New  York  to  avoid 
prosecution,)  applied  to  the  Icarian 
colony  for  admittance,  but  were  or¬ 
dered  not  to  come.  Not  having  re¬ 
ceived  the  answer  in  time,  they 
started  and  larrived  in  Corning  to 


the  astonishment  of  the  members  of 
the  community,  who  were  not  will¬ 
ing  to  admit  them.  The  new  com¬ 
ers  having  no  means  to  go  back, 
and  understanding  the  reason  why 
the  majority  was  not  willing  to  ad¬ 
mit  any  one,  used  a  strategem  and 
flattering  both  parties,  pledged 
themselves  secretly  that  when  ad¬ 
mitted,  would  be  on  their  side.  Both 
minority  and  majority  believing  in 
acquiring  reinforcements,  not  only 
admitted  them,  but  suspended  in 
their  favor  the  rule  of  provisory 
membership  for  six  months  and 
made  them  at  once  active  members. 
As  soon  as  admitted,  they  showed 
their  colors  and  three  of  them  joined 
the  minority  and  one  the  majority. 
They  began  to  have  everybody  un¬ 
derstand  that  they  were  the  men, 
the  very  ones  that  came  in  time  to 
save  the  sinking  ship:  that  they 
had  the  required  qualifications  and 
wisdom  that  had  been  lacking  in 
all  the  others  that  had  preceded 
them.  They  were  good  talkers  and 
acquired  a  great  influence.  No  one 
of  the  members  could  withstand 
their  argumentation.  The  trouble 
was  that  one  of  them  took  place 
among  the  majority,  understanding 


28 


fully  that  no  two  could  g*et  the  di¬ 
rectorship  and  as  two  of  them  were 
especially  ambitious,  it  would  equa¬ 
lize  the  chances.  The  conflict  be¬ 
came  more  active.  The  production 
did  not  increase  by  their  presence, 
but  the  difficulties;  scenes  of  vio¬ 
lence  took  place.  The  hope  of  the 
future;  the  children  who  had  become 
men  and  womeu  under  the  influence 
of  communistic  life,  in  consequence 
of  the  hereditary  law,  showed  the 
same  disposition  as  their  parents. 
If  there  was  any  difference  at  all,  it 
was  a  little  deficiency,  a  little  de¬ 
generation,  a  retrogradation  They 
never  showed  the  talents,  the  skill, 
the  activity,  the  ardor  of  their  par¬ 
ents.  They  had  inherited  the  vices, 
and  communism  had  atropliiated 
the  good  qualities. 

Not  producing  enough,  the}’’  had 
to  suppress  the  use  of  coffee  and 
tea  and  replace  them  by  a  decoction 
of  strawberry  leaves.  The  situa¬ 
tion  became  very  difficult.  Fight¬ 
ing  was  often  resorted  to  and  the 
hope  of  the  future  showed  as  much 
disposition  to  it — maybe  a  little 
more  than  the  old  members. 

The  minority  giving  up  the  hope 
of  inducing  the  majority  to  accede 


to  the  request  of  devolopment  made 
a  motion  for  a  division  of  all  prop¬ 
erties  in  order  to  establish  an  auto¬ 
matic  branch.  It  was  refused, when 
they  threatened  to  appeal  before  the 
courts  of  justice  for  a  dissolution  of 
partnership,  as  they  were  incorpor¬ 
ated  as  a  stock  company. 

Before  taking*  any  further  steps, 
however,  they  consulted  many  of 
the  old  members  (who  had  left  the 
society  long  ago)  asking  ad¬ 
vise  as  to  what  they  should  do.  Ma¬ 
jority  and  minority  being  mostly 
equal  in  number  it  was  a  difficult 
matter  to  be  settled.  All  of  those 
that  were  consulted,  myself  includ¬ 
ed,  recommended  an  arbitration  as 
the  most  civilized  means,  the  most 
in  accordance  with  their  principles 
and  the  cheapest.  We  wrote  to  them 
that  they  would  disgrace  themselves 
to  drag  such  an  institution  as  theirs 
before  the  courts  and  g*ive  the  law¬ 
yers  a  chance  to  milk  their  cow 
while  they  would  be  pulling  her, 
one  by  the  horns,  the  other  by  the 
tail. 

Both  sides  asked  for  advice,  but 
did  not  want  any.  All  they  were 
after  was  a  confirmation  of  their 
doings.  They  had  sunk  down  and 


29 


back  to  the  fist  right,  to  barbarism, 
and  were  not  able  to  listen  to  sound 
counsel.  The  majority  offered  the 
minority  a  sum  of  money  if  they 
would  consent  to  leave  and  exper¬ 
iment  anywhere  else.  No,  they  want¬ 
ed  their  integral  share — no  more,  no 
less— and  they  attacked  the  society 
in  dissolution  on  the  ground  that 
they  had  not  complied  with  their 
charter. 

The  society  was  dissolved  by  the 
law  and  trustees  appointed  to  divide 
the  real  estate  and  personal  prop¬ 
erty  among  all  the  stockholders, 
according  to  the  length  of  time 
they  had  contributed  to  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  said  property.  As  soon  as 
dissolved  they  reorganized  as  two 
different  societies,  called  “the 
young  branch”  and  “the  old 
branch.” 

The  property  was  of  such  a  na¬ 
ture  that  it  was  difficult  to  divide  it 
at  once.  The  houses  were  all  built 
on  one  spot.  Some  had  to  be  mov¬ 
ed  away.  The  members  of  both 
branches  had  become  bitter  enemies, 
and  during  the  division  of  property, 
coming  in  contact  too  closely,  pugil¬ 
ism  was  often  the  result.  One  day 
they  had  a  regular  fight  about  an 


old  water-trough,  which  was  not 
worth  fifty  cents.  They  both  claim¬ 
ed  it  and  a  regular  and  desperate 
combat  took  place.  Many  heroes 
were  called  to  bite  the  dust.  No 
one  died  but  a  few  were  severly  in¬ 
jured;  an  attempt  of  castration 
was  performed  on  one  of  the  com¬ 
munards. 

They  had  a  vineyard  and  had 
made  several  hundred  gallons  of 
wine.  The  wine  brought  another 
contest  in  which  men  and  women 
engaged  in  the  struggle.  I  can  not 
and  will  not  relate  all  the  lament¬ 
able  instances  of  vandalism  that  oc¬ 
curred.  They  also  on  each  side 
published  a  paper  in  which  they 
abused  each  other  in  the  most 
shocking  manner. 

The  new  society,  the  young 
branch  composed  of  the  members  of 
the  minority,  was  deserted  year  after 
year  by  all  its  members  to  the  ex¬ 
ception  of  two,  who  had  been  sharp 
enough  to  manage  to  remain  in  pos¬ 
session  of  the  Icarian  patrimony 
and  enjoy  the  fruits  of  35  years  of 
labor  of  hundreds  des-illusioned 
communists. 

So  ended  the  experiment  of  com¬ 
munistic  life  in  Nanvoo,  under  the 


30 


leadership  of  the  founder,  E .  Cabet; 
in  six  years  the}7,  arrived  at  civil 
war  and  division.  In  Iowa  without 
Cabet,  in  sixteen  j^ears  the  same  re¬ 
sult  was  attained. 

Communism  does  not  agree  with 
human  nature.  It  is  detrimental  to 
that  nature.  The  physical  condi¬ 
tion  of  the  human  being-  is  of  such 
an  order  that  it  is  not  adaptable  to 
communism  and  consequently  the 
result  can  not  be  satisfactory. 

For  those  who  should  still  remain 
under  the  impression  that  this  ex¬ 
periment  is  not  authority  enough 
to  be  conclusive  proof  for  the  non¬ 
practicability  of  communism,  is  in 
my  opinion  merely  an  assertion. 

It  is  said  and  admitted  by  many 
that  communism  does  not  agree 
with  human  nature.  Others  pre¬ 
tend  that  with  a  firm  will  and  the 
necessary  qualities  it  could  be  put 
into  practice.  There  lies  the  ques¬ 
tion.  The  qualifications  and  the 
will.  It  is  easily  pronounced  but 
very  difficult  to  explain  and  under¬ 
stand.  Why  is  it  that  having-  the 
will,  and  believing-  to  be  qualified, 
did  these  Icarians  fail.  Some  of 
them  say  that  if  we  had  good  com¬ 
munists  it  could  be  practiced.  Every 


one  of  them  who  left  the  society, 
had  said  of  those  who  had  left  be¬ 
fore  himself,  “they  are  not  good 
communists.’’  Those  that  are 
members  now  of  the  Icarian  society 
are  pronounced  by  all  those  who 
have  left  it  poor  communists. 

Where  are  the  good  ones? 

Every  one  of  them  believes  he  has 
done  all  that  could  humanly  be  done 
and  that  he  has  done  better  than  all 
the  others.  That  if  others  had 
been  as  good  as  he  was  and  done 
as  well  as  he  did  all  would  have 
gone  right, and  still  it  went  wrong*. 
Human  nature  agrees  not  with  com¬ 
munism.  Why?  Are  we  not  free 
agents?  Can’t  we  act  as  we  will? 
Can’t  we  think  as  we  will?  What 
is  that  human  nature  that  does  not 
agree?  What  is  our  ego, our  entity, 
the  will,  the  qualifications? 

So  few  understood  themselves. 
The  work  of  this  wonderful,  compli¬ 
cated  machine  called  the  human 
body;  that  they  must  be  excused 
when  they  talk  communism,  and 
anarchism.  Communism  admits  of 
government.  Anarchism  does  not. 
Both  and  the  latter  still  more  than 
the  former  mode  of  society  requires 
a  degree  of  perfection,  a  condition 


aat  is  not  contained  in  the  human 
'>ody  at  present. 

That  human  being-  undertakes  to 
j  ractice  communism; which  requires 
perfection,  and  abneg-ation  of 
ne’s  self, admitting  that  the  judge- 
.  ;ent,  the  cebreum  would  have  con- 
c  ived  and  understood  that  state  of 
perfection  and  would  be  willing  to 
-  upose  silence  to  all  its  human  co¬ 
associates,  the  organs.  They  pro- 
c  *st,  rebel,  and  show  him  that  they 
have  something  to  say  in  the  man- 
cement  of  this  transaction,  and  if 
ich  a  state  of  things  would  be  a 
s  tisfaction.  a  gratification  for  the 
ad, it  would’nt  be  for  them, and  the 
ar  keeps  on  until  the  head  is 
bdued  and  communism  a  failure. 
What  human  nature  will  be  in  the 
uture  I  do  not  know.  In  its  pres¬ 
et  state  it  is  too  imperfect,  and  in 
der  to  keep  it  in  its  present  devel- 
ped  state,  it  takes  the  rubbing, 
Uarpening  influence  of  suffering, of 
(Acuities  to  overcome,  of  self  re- 
•  oonsibility,  of  ambition,  which 
mmunistic  life  does  not  offer,  and 
'  consequently  detrimental  to  that 
ture. 


